New Delhi | Shimla
The gulf between political rhetoric and state action on the sacrifices of India’s armed forces has once again been laid bare.
This time not by an opposition charge, but by the country’s top auditor and the Union government’s own budgetary decisions.
A recent Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report for 2024–25, tabled in the Lok Sabha, has triggered outrage within the military fraternity.
The report reveals that the Ministry of Defence spent nearly ₹244 crore on legal fees to fight cases filed by serving soldiers and ex-servicemen—cases involving benefits of barely ₹105 crore in benefits.
For soldiers, veterans and their families, the numbers tell a brutal story: the State appears more willing to spend hundreds of crores denying entitlements than honouring them.
“This is not just about money, it is about mindset,” said a retired soldier, reacting angrily to the audit findings.
“On public platforms, politicians wrap themselves in the flag, spend a night at the border, share photographs with jawans and speak the language of sacrifice.
But when they are in power, their governments fight us tooth and nail in courts, wasting public money to deny us what is rightfully ours.”
The anger has only intensified after the Union Budget 2026–27, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1 in Parliament.
A provision in the budget proposing to tax disability pension of soldiers by treating it as regular income has sent shockwaves across the armed forces community.
For soldiers who have lost limbs, eyesight or mobility in the line of duty, the move is being seen as the final insult.
“Disability pension is not income; it is compensation for a life permanently damaged in service of the nation,” said an ex-serviceman’s association member.
“Taxing it shows how little value the political class truly attaches to our sacrifice.”
Across veterans’ forums and regimental networks, the mood is one of outrage.
Serving soldiers, ex-servicemen and war widows and wives of amputee soldiers have lambasted the proposal, demanding its immediate rollback.
Many point out the irony that while political leaders speak of ‘nation first’ and ‘soldiers’ honour’, policy decisions consistently erode welfare measures painstakingly won after years of struggle and litigation.
The CAG report has added fuel to the fire, exposing what soldiers call a “double-faced approach”—flowery speeches at border outposts and ceremonial events, contrasted with adversarial governance in offices and courtrooms in Delhi.
As protests mount, the voices are growing louder.
It is good that the heads of state remember soldiers snd pay tributes at war memorials on many occasions. But symbolism cannot substitute justice, and photo-ops cannot erase policies that undermine dignity.
The government needs to act fast by withdrawing the tax on disability pension and rethinking its combative legal stance
This will go a long way in restorating the trust deficit between those who guard the nation and those who govern it.
#RespectSoldiersSacrifice
#DisabilityPensionIsNotIncome
#CAGExposesHypocrisy
#RollbackTaxOnVeterans
